Animal I Have Become
by Hybryd0
Summary: *Hiatus* Eric's life is about to change in ways he never expected.  Guess that'll teach him not to touch shiny objects
1. Unexpected

AN: This is set about a week after Danger and still before the beginning of season four. Get ready for a wild ride. I plan to put the boys through the wringer.

VvVvV

It should have been getting easier. It had been months since a shootout had claimed his best friend's life. Speed had been dead for long enough. It should have stopped hurting. Or not hurt as much. And still Eric felt a keen sense of loss every time he went out to a case without his partner and best friend. There was no biting wit, no sarcastic remarks, no "you're a dumb ass" looks. All of that was gone. Taken away from him by some asshole who cared more about money than lives.

It didn't help that there was a constant reminder of the fact that Speed was gone. It wasn't bad enough that his presence was sorely missed by everyone. No. Horatio had wasted no time in replacing Timothy Speedle, as if he could be replaced. And that's all he could think about when he looked at Ryan Wolfe. The younger man paled in comparison to Speed. He could never, _never _take Speed's place and Eric was offended that Horatio even thought that was remotely possible.

Wolfe was a cocky, arrogant, know-it-all little punk. He disrespected Eric and held onto Horatio like his own personal security blanket. The kid had run off and left him at a scene to take case breaking evidence back to Horatio like _he_ was the one that dove into the water for it. That was only the latest in a string of offenses that just kept adding up. The most annoying thing was that Horatio expected them all to accept this _replacement _like someone could just take Speed's place.

And it made him resent Wolfe even more. Who did the kid think he was? Swooping in like a vulture as soon as there was an opening. It made Eric sick. It showed a serious lack of respect in Eric's eyes. He really wanted nothing to do with the _replacement_, but Horatio kept putting them on cases together.

Like the one they were working together that fateful day.

A man in his early thirties had been found murdered in his home by his visiting sister. The initial evidence pointed to a breaking and entering turned deadly. There had been an obvious struggle. The deceased had put up an admirable fight. Whoever had broken in had certainly not walked away unscathed. Eric had hopes that it would be an easy open and shut case. He put Wolfe to investigating the outside just to get the guy out of his hair while he got Alexx's initial report.

Alexx. There was another thing that irritated him. Alexx was treating Wolfe the same way she used to treat Speed. Like the replacementwas another son. Oh sure, she gave Wolfe the cold shoulder at first. Everyone but Horatio had. But then something happened and her attitude changed. It was like the younger CSI had cast a spell or something. Alexx acted like Speed had never existed and that tweaked something deep down.

"Are you listening to me?"

Eric snapped out his thoughts and wiped the glower off his face. "Sorry Alexx."

Alexx studied him silently for a moment before she sighed and repeated herself again. Victim was stabbed numerous times, but it was a lucky shot through two ribs and into the heart that had killed him. Eric tuned her out as she went to speaking to the dead body like she usually did. Instead he turned his attention to taking pictures and gathering evidence.

He barely registered when Alexx left with the body as he focused on his work.

"Found some blood outside probably belongs to the killer."

Eric jumped violently and spun to glare. "Damn Wolfe don't sneak up on me."

"Thought you heard me come in," Wolfe replied with a shrug.

"Well, I didn't," Eric took a deep breath to calm himself. "Are you done outside already?"

"Well not quite, but--."

"Then why don't you go do your job."

Wolfe's face scrunched up in frustration and he opened his mouth like he wanted to argue. When no words came he turned and stalked out. Eric smirked. It felt good to throw a little bit of his annoyance back at the kid. As much as the younger CSI pissed him off he rather enjoyed returning the favor.

It was when he looked back to where the body had been that Eric noticed something strange. There was a pool of blood from where the guy had bled out which was to be expected in a stabbing. However, the blood revealed cracks in the floor that were a different shape and size that the wood flooring. There was only one way that could make sense. A trapdoor. Bending down he examined the area, taking a few pictures, before he tried to open it. After a few seconds he was able to find the catch and lifted the trapdoor. He snapped several more pictures and then reached down and pulled out the little box. He flipped it open and stared in surprise at the amulet within.

The amulet was the purest blue he had ever seen. It was an absolutely perfect cut, better than anything he had seen in a long time. It was highly polished and seemed to catch every beam of sunlight and reflected it perfectly. The effect wasn't even dulled by the leather straps that served as the means to wear it.

Eric couldn't tear his eyes away. Without thought he grabbed the leather straps and lifted the amulet out of the box. It sparkled and gleamed in the sunlight and as he stared at it something flashed in it briefly. Then he had a compulsion that he just couldn't shake. Without a thought he reached forward and touched the amulet.

"Eric no!"

He managed to feel a smooth and warm surface before something big, burly and odddly blue colored flashed in his vision accompanied by a eerie howl. And then everything went black.

VvVvV

_Things happened fast once Eric fell unconscious. His body shook and convulsed as a change came over him. Fur sprouted all over his body in a deep, vivid blue color. His mouth and nose extended into a muzzle as his teeth grew long and sharp. His muscles bulked out and his whole body got bigger by at least two feet. His ears got larger and pointed while a tail burst out. As the final change came over him burning brown eyes snapped open. A low rumbling growl came from his throat as he maneuvered into a crouch._

_Confusion. He felt confused and angry. And he couldn't think of why. He couldn't think at all. Instinct. He lived on instinct._

_Sniffing the air he caught the smell of fear along with a scent he recognized, but associated with anger and hurt. He spun with another growl. With a howl he lunged and swatted the human that stood too close to him across the room and into a wall. He took a step toward the fallen being but movement to his right made him stop. He spun to face the new threat and snarled. Something was pointed at him and reacting quickly he sprang forward and smacked that something away then grabbed the human and threw it out of his way._

_With a howl he bound away. Loud bangs followed him and he felt the heat of something pass his ear. Then there were more humans in front of him pointing those same somethings at him. He lunged and grabbed the arm of one and used it to swing the human into the other. He looked down at what the humans had been holding and a word popped in his head. Gun. They were guns, but he couldn't think of what that was._

_With a confused snarl he continued on his way. There were so many humans around him. And big monsters that had hard skins and made a strange sound. One was coming towards him and his automatic instinct was to charge, but when he hit the thing it hurt him. He whimpered in pain and confusion and backed away from it._

_Suddenly he was tackled from behind. He smelled worry and there was that scent again. But it was different this time. It was..Pack? No, not Pack. An outsider._

"_Eric, calm down," a deep voice rumbled in his ear._

_He snarled and twisted in the outsider's grip. He brought his fist up into the other's chin and kicked the outsider off him. The other wolf rolled with the kick and managed to stay on balance. He crouched and watched the white wolf with his ears erect and his lips pulled back to show off his teeth. His fur bristled as he watched the other wolf take a defensive stance._

"_Eric, you're not a wolf. Calm down," the white wolf said._

"_Outsider," he snarled in return._

"_Friend," the wolf insisted._

_He growled and tensed his muscles. "Not Pack."_

"_Do you want your Pack? Would that help?"_

"_Outsider, not Pack."_

"_Trust me I know."_

_The white wolf moved and he reacted on instinct. He pounced the outsider and threw his fist at the other wolf's muzzle. It connected, but he was kicked off and sent tumbling. He managed to get his feet under him and spun once more to face the outsider. He was met with a face full of ice and howled in fear and panic as he suddenly couldn't see._

"_I didn't want to have to do this, Delko, but you've had this coming for weeks anyway."_

_He tore at the ice as the other wolf spoke, but just as he got it off he was grabbed from behind. Strong arms tried to restrain him he reacted on pure instinct. He grabbed the other wolf's arm and used it to toss the outsider over his shoulder and into the ground. He fell on the outsider, trying to get a good solid bite, but the white wolf struggled too much. A punch to his jaw rocked him and a solid pillar of ice lifted him into the air._

"_Now just stay up there like a good little blue wolf and--."_

_The white wolf's talking was really starting to make his head hurt. So with a snarl he braved the leap and made it onto the roof of a nearby building. He took off leaping from roof to roof as he listened to the other wolf yell at him._

_He was confused, angry, and now in pain. The outsider hit hard._

_He wasn't sure how far he had gone when he was suddenly tackled off the roof._

"_Hawk!"_

_He landed flat on his back with something heavy on his chest. For a moment he couldn't breathe and could only stare at the red and white clad human whose fall he had broken. The human didn't waste any time and threw several punishing hits to his face before he tossed the human off him. He managed to get to his feet until suddenly he couldn't get any traction and fell face first to the ground._

"_Do yourself a favor and stay down."_

_It was an unfamiliar voice with an unfamiliar scent and it made the hackles on the back of his neck stand up. He struggled to get up, but his claws couldn't quite dig into the ice and he kept slipping. A weight jumped onto his back, but the attacker had jumped at an angle and it allowed him to slide far enough across the ice to get his claws into the ground. He yanked himself and his attacker off the ice and then rolled so that he put all his weight on whoever was on his back._

"_Get off!'_

_He was shoved into the air and tried to twist to land on his feet, but ended up twisting his ankle. He whimpered and knelt to hold his wound, but stood up again when he realized there was not one, but two unknown humans and something that wasn't human, but wasn't wolf either approaching him._

"_Can I suggest something other than violence? He seems pretty capable of continuing to fight," the blue and white clad human said._

"_You can suggest it," his previous attacker replied. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna follow."_

"_Down boy," a strange voice said from seemingly nowhere. "Violence isn't the answer here."_

_He crouched and stared at them in a mix of bewilderment and growing fury. They were strange and they triggered a fight or flight instinct in him. The not-human-not-wolf took a step toward him and he lunged forward. At the same time he caught the outsider's scent and found himself restrained. The hold incapacitated his arms while forcing his head forward and down in a painful way._

"_Now, it's time for you to listen to reason," the outsider said in his ear. "MidKnight, do your magic."_

_He struggled, but the outsider was stronger and more determined. The more he struggled the tighter the hold got and the more pain he received._

_Then he became aware of something. Something on the edge of his understanding._

"_You're not a wolf, Eric. You're human. Focus on that. Hold onto that."_

_The voice was confusing and felt intrusive. He struggled, scared and not understanding. He howled and fought._

"_Don't be afraid. Focus, Eric. I know you feel your humanity. I feel it too."_

"_Ah screw this."_

_He watched, unable to move as the red and white clad human lunged forward while swinging a fist forward._

"_Damnit Hawk!"_

_And then there was blackness._


	2. Waking

_Ice_

_Pain_

_Water_

_Darkness..._

"I've got him secure now, Mr. Terrific. Thanks for sending the help."

"It's no problem. Are you sure you don't want to lock him up in the Watchtower?"

"Thanks, but he's not going to cause anymore problems. It's the initial transformation that's the problem."

"The offer stands."

"I appreciate it."

Eric's head throbbed as he came back to awareness. In fact his whole body throbbed. He felt maybe a little like he had been through a kick boxing match and come out on the losing side. With a groan he tried to raise his hand to his face, but realized that he was restrained. That brought him to a state of full awareness and his eyes shot open.

The first thing he realized was that he was in a large well lit room. He was strapped to some kind of table with thick metal bands over his chest and limbs. The table was in an upright position allowing him to see everything around him. There were computers and equipment lining the wall opposite him as well as all sorts of gadgets on a table to his right. To his left was a big large monitor that took up a large portion of the wall and went black just as he looked over at it. He was sure there were more things behind him, but he was unable to twist his head far enough.

But when he spotted a familiar figure all other thoughts fled from his head. A big burly white furred bi-pedal wolf turned and was walking toward him. He tried to keep the look of awe off his face, but he had to admit to himself Icewolf was an amazing being. But what was he doing in the ice hero's presence? The last thing he remembered was working a crime scene.

"Hey sleeping beauty. How do you feel?" Icewolf asked in that amazing deep rumble of a voice.

"Um...okay?" Eric said. He let his eyes roam and suddenly realized where he was. He was in Icewolf's secret base. "Why am I here?"

Icewolf smirked and crossed his arms. "You went on a little bit of a violent spree earlier. I'm sure you probably don't remember."

"Last thing I remember is being at a crime scene."

"Anything else?"

Eric's eyebrows scrunched up as he thought hard. He couldn't think of anything. There were flashes of things that didn't make sense, but nothing to explain his lack of memory or why in the world he was in Icewolf's secret base.

"You touched a power amulet and it found you to be suitable," Icewolf explained.

"Suitable for what?" Eric asked. Icewolf had said it in a very nonchalant way, but for some reason that struck Eric as ominous.

"Suitable for the powers of course," the white wolf replied. "You're now an honorary Wolf. You haven't displayed your elemental power yet, but your first transformation to your hybrid form was fun."

Eric's mind went blank. "Honorary Wolf?"

"Yup," Icewolf flashed his front teeth in a wolf-smile. "I'm not the only one you know. There was a Firewolf, and I met the Terrawolf once."

"I'm not a wolf," Eric said, mind still not catching up with the facts.

Icewolf laughed. "You are. When you touched the amulet and it transferred the power to you it triggered an automatic transformation to your half human-half wolf form. We call it the hybrid form. You then ran wild around the neighborhood until a few League members helped me stop you."

"You—can't--"

"_You're not a wolf, Eric. You're human. Focus on that. Hold on to that."_

Eric jerked, the sudden memory assaulting his mind. Suddenly like a flood he remembered everything. He remembered touching the amulet. He remembered the painful transformation and then...oh no. He struck Ryan, struck him hard. It could have been hard enough to kill.

"Delko?"

"How do you know my name?" Eric demanded in an attempt to distract himself from morbid thoughts.

"Oh, we know each other better than you think," Icewolf replied and Eric was frustrated by his obvious attempts of being mysterious. "What we need to talk about is what you plan to do."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a Wolf now, Delko. You've got powers and abilities you didn't have before," Icewolf explained calmly. "You can catch the criminals before they commit the crimes instead of after."

That idea definitely had its appeals. Eric, like most CSIs, wished sometimes that he could have stopped a crime instead of just avenging it. Now maybe instead of just investigating the crime scene he could prevent it. He could--

Wait a minute. Eric narrowed his eyes at the white wolf who cocked his head in response. "How do you know so much about me?"

Icewolf snorted. What could have passed as a mischievous smile crossed his features. "You know me and yet, you don't."

"Quit being so damn cryptic! Give me a straight answer damnit! And let me out of these restraints!"

"Temper, temper, Delko. I'm not letting you out of there until I'm sure you're not a threat anymore," Icewolf retorted. He turned his back to Eric and started to walk back toward his computers. "And you haven't earned the right to know my true identity."

Eric opened his mouth to argue, but snapped it shut. It was obvious the superhero wasn't going to answer any questions he didn't want to and pushing wasn't going to get him anywhere. Instead he changed his tactic and asked some other questions he wanted answered.

"Did you...did I...When I transformed I was with a colleague..."

Icewolf turned to face Eric again and the wolf's features seemed to soften just slightly. "He had a headache, but otherwise fine."

"Oh, good," Eric didn't really know what else to say. He wasn't fond of Wolfe, but he was glad to know he hadn't killed the guy. "Did I hurt anyone else?"

"You scared a few police officers pretty badly and gave me a run for my money, but no. No one was seriously hurt."

Eric breathed a sigh of relief at that. If he had hurt innocent bystanders he never would have forgiven himself.

"You weren't in control of yourself. You can hardly be blamed for anything that happened and thankfully nothing did," Icewolf said, sounding strangely comforting. "My first transformation was the same way. Thankfully, Firewolf was there to knock me out."

"Who knocked me out?"

Icewolf snorted. "That would be Hawk. Guy has a temper. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if he didn't have Dove to keep him under control."

Eric blinked and did his best to absorb that information. Maybe he needed to get more familiar with the superhero community. He had no idea who Hawk and Dove were. In fact, Icewolf was about the only superhero, other than the big names of course, that he was familiar with. And that was only because Icewolf was almost always in the news for one thing or another. Not to mention since the night that he was held hostage and saved by Icewolf, Eric had done some research on the superhero. There wasn't much to find. All he could find was that Icewolf had been protecting Miami for almost three years and that before that he worked in the north with Firewolf.

"At some point, Delko, you're going to have to focus and make a decision," Icewolf said, bringing Eric out of his thoughts.

"About what?"

Icewolf sighed and shook his head. "What are you going to do with your new abilities?"

"Do I have to decide now?" Eric asked. "I really kinda need time to absorb all this."

"Take your time. I'm going to ask the League to transport you to your home," Icewolf replied. He turned to walk away, but Eric called out to him.

"Wait, what do I tell my boss about my disappearance?"

"We've told him you were transported to the Watchtower for injuries sustained during the monster's attack," Icewolf explained. "Just tell him the injuries weren't as bad as originally suspected and you were released early."

"Oh, um, okay."

Eric was just slightly stunned by how efficiently Icewolf had taken care of the situation. At least he wouldn't have to make any awkward explanations to Horatio or anyone else for that matter. It was very much appreciated, but he didn't get a chance to say thank you or anything else to Icewolf. He heard the white wolf's deep voice speaking to someone. Then there was a tingly sensation and he found himself standing in the middle of his living room.

Huh.

VvVvV

Work was difficult for Eric. He couldn't think about anything except the memories of his rampage and Icewolf's statements about what he could do with his new abilities. The idea of fighting crime in a new way was intriguing to say the least. He couldn't focus on the evidence he was supposed to be examining with all the thoughts of possibilities that crowded his mind.

"Delko."

Eric jerked in surprise at the sudden and unexpected voice. His heart pounded hard in his chest as he spun to face the speaker. The frown on his face deepened into a glare when he realized it was Wolfe. And Wolfe was smirking at him.

"Daydreaming on the job, Delko?" the younger CSI questioned with what could have been a teasing tone, but was more likely mocking.

Eric's glare intensified and before he realized it a growl built up in his throat and rumbled out. "Do you need something, Wolfe?"

"I just wondered if you found out who the fingerprints on the porch railing belonged to," Wolfe replied, seemingly unshaken by Eric's anger. "You looked so intensely concentrated I thought maybe you found something."

"No, I haven't found anything," Eric retorted. "Don't you have something you should be doing?"

"I got shoe impressions outside, but without anything to compare them to they don't lead anywhere," Wolfe said. "Other than that those fingerprints you're working on are our only lead. The killer was too good about not leaving anything behind."

"Maybe you should go back to the crime scene and look again," Eric grumbled, turning his attention back to the fingerprints.

He heard Wolfe sigh and then leave.

Suddenly the computer kicked up a name. Eric groaned. Of course. The fingerprints belonged to the victim. Damn.

"Eric?"

Eric turned and nodded to his boss. Horatio watched him for a moment and Eric felt mildly like a bug under a microscope.

"The fingerprints, Eric, belong to the victim, don't they?"

"The only real evidence isn't really evidence," Eric muttered. "This is looking more and more like a professional hit."

"Eric, we have been offered help on this case and given the circumstances I have decided to take it," Horatio said. "Come with me please."

Eric shed his lab coat and followed Horatio out of the lab. As they walked he noticed the lab techs were acting odd. They were talking amongst themselves like excited school children. It made sense a moment later. When Horatio led him into the break room Eric felt his heart skip a beat.

Leaning nonchalantly against a counter with his arms crossed was Icewolf. The white wolf stood straight and walked toward them. Eric was amazed by the grace with which the superhero walked. Actually, since the night Icewolf rescued him Eric had found himself increasingly intrigued by everything about the wolf-hero.

"I trust I don't have to introduce you two?" Horatio said, his face not reflecting the slight amusement in his tone.

"No, Lieutenant Caine, I believe we are familiar with one another," Icewolf replied. "I appreciate you accepting my help, Lieutenant. I believe I have information and more that I can offer."

"Thank you for offering your assistance," Horatio replied. "You two will be working together on this case."

"What about Wolfe?" Eric asked without thinking.

Eric noticed Icewolf's eyes darted to Horatio and then back to him. Horatio apparently didn't notice. "I sent Mr. Wolfe home."

Eric wanted to ask why, but then realized he didn't really care. He was going to get to work with Icewolf without the replacement getting in the way. He could rub it in Wolfe's face later.

"Good luck, gentlemen."

With that Horatio was gone. Eric stared at Icewolf for a moment before he moved forward and took a seat at the table. Icewolf approached the table, but stayed standing.

"There's no evidence left at the scene," Eric said. "All we've got are shoe impressions and those are useless without a sample to compare them to."

"I'm not surprised," Icewolf replied. "It was definitely professional. I've managed to contact several other Wolves. Apparently, someone is trying to collect the power amulets."

"And willing to kill for it," Eric added. "They left without it though and it didn't look like there was a search. Why?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I'm not even sure how someone knows about the amulets," Icewolf replied. "They're a closely guarded secret by those of us who have gained our abilities from them."

"Another wolf then?"

"That's not a pleasant thought," the wolf-hero said with a troubled look. "As far as we know right now there are only a limited amount of elements. So far we have ice, fire, earth, shadow, and whatever your element is."

"Could it be the shadow wolf?" Eric asked hopefully.

"That's a bit too cliché, Delko," Icewolf retorted. "Dark Wolf isn't a villain. She hasn't even been working as a hero lately. She's got kids and husband who she's quite content to be with."

"What about the others?"

"I've worked with Terrawolf so I know it's not him. As for Firewolf...he's been missing for quite some time."

"So, not one of the known wolves. You don't know them all though, do you? Can you sense when there's a new one."

Icewolf sighed and rubbed his muzzle, but Eric wasn't exactly sure what emotion that was expressing. "No, we don't sense when there's a new one. Yes, there could be more and if there are we have no way of tracking or finding them."

"So what exactly are we going to do?" Eric asked. He was frustrated by the wolf-hero's incredible lack of helpfulness.

"You're going to examine the crime scene again, closer. I'm going to bust some heads in this city's underworld," Icewolf replied calmly.

"There's nothing more to find there," Eric argued. "The crime scene is a dead end."

"Then you'll have to wait and see if I can turn anything up."

"The hell I will. I'm going with you."

"You're inexperienced and don't even know what your element is yet."

"I can take care of myself," Eric shot back stubbornly.

"You—are a stubborn man who is going to get himself killed," Icewolf growled. "You--."

"Are going with you no matter what you say."

The wolf growled with annoyance, but when the glaring didn't work Icewolf relented. "Fine, but don't make me regret it."


	3. Smackdown

Eric didn't anticipate that going with Icewolf meant transforming to his hybrid form again. And Icewolf wasn't a patient teacher. The white wolf wasn't happy with having Eric along and was even less happy to help him transform willingly for the first time. Eric wasn't very happy about having to be taught anything. All in all it wasn't a fun situation.

"If you can't get this you're not going with me," Icewolf grumbled.

They were hiding in a parking garage where Icewolf said it would be safe to leave the hummer. So far Eric had managed to get one hand to sprout an intensely blue fur, but no full body changes were even remotely close. Frustrated he shot the wolf a glare.

"You're not being very helpful. All you've told me is focus on the wolf inside, but I don't know what the hell that means!"

"Not my fault."

"Well, how do you transform?"

Icewolf shot him a brief amused look. "I focus on the wolf inside."

"You're an asshole," Eric grumbled. "How did you transform when you first got your abilities?"

"Meditation."

Eric balked. "You're kidding, right?"

Icewolf smirked, his amusement clearly showing. "Firewolf was big on spiritualism and meditation was part of that. I got my powers after him and he helped me learn to meditate."

"That's not—I can't meditate."

"You mean clear your mind of all thought and emotion? No, your inability to do that doesn't surprise me."

Eric growled then, shooting the wolf-hero a furious look. "You insult me a lot for not knowing me."

"I have the advantage for once. Excuse me for enjoying it," Icewolf retorted. "Now, you can either transform or stay out of my way."

Eric closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. At first the sound of traffic nearby kept distracting him. Then a helicopter flew overheard. Even Icewolf's breathing was too loud. Finally though he was able to focus his thoughts inward.

And he felt something. In his previous attempts the feeling had been much...quieter. He could barely feel the wolf before, but suddenly it was a very different story. He could not only feel the wolf he could hear it's howl. He latched onto it, pulling the wolf closer and embracing it fully.

"Well, I really didn't think you'd manage it," Icewolf's voice sounded loud and obnoxious in the silence of his mind. "Well done."

Eric opened his eyes and lifted his arms. Sure enough both arms were covered in thick vivid blue fur and his fingers ended in short, but sharp claws. Looking down at the rest of the body it was the same story, although the fur on his chest was a lighter shade of blue. His next realization was that he had grown something extra and twisting his neck around to look at his back he saw he had a tail.

More than all that were the sounds and smells he was suddenly assaulted with. What had been the fairly distant sound of traffic suddenly sounded like he was laying right on the road with the cars driving over him. The horns blared furiously and Eric had to cover his sensitive ears. Then he became aware of a sound much closer to him and sent a look that could kill at the white wolf leaning against the hummer.

"What's so damn funny?" Eric demanded.

Icewolf grinned slightly, white teeth flashing. "Oh, I'm not actually laughing at you, Delko. You just reminded me of the first time I transformed. Firewolf had already been through it and he decided to play a practical joke on me. He said he wanted to test my sense of smell, see if it was as strong as his. So he opened a vial and asked me to smell it at tell him what it was."

"And?" Eric asked, finding himself intrigued by the wolf's deep voice. He was pleasantly surprised to note his own voice had deepened.

"He'd sprayed that fake fart crap that you get in joke shops in there. I couldn't smell anything but that for days. He found it hilarious."

"Sounds like you were really close to Firewolf."

Icewolf's eyes darkened and the smile dropped from his face. If Eric had been trying to upset Icewolf it would have been a satisfying result, but he knew how it felt to lose a partner. So he didn't say anything else while Icewolf gave him curt instructions on what he was and was not to do during their investigation. Despite the blow to his pride at being talked to like a rookie, which he grudgingly admitted was what he was, he just stayed quiet and listened.

When they left the parking garage Eric was only mildly surprised to find Icewolf liked to travel across town by rooftop, street lights, stoplights, and anything else he could use to keep from touching the ground. It was exhilarating. Like the first time he went deep sea diving or the first time he solved a case all on his own. He felt powerful. More than that, he felt _alive_. Alive in a way he hadn't been since he lost his best friend.

And there was a rhythm to it. A beautiful sort of dance to the way Icewolf moved through the city. It felt natural. As if Icewolf had been embraced by the city and embraced it in return so that they were one. Eric was in complete awe as he followed the superhero, doing his best to keep up.

He was so concentrated on feeling the rhythm that he didn't notice when Icewolf stopped on a rooftop. He slammed into the white wolf's back and nearly pitched the ice-wielder over the edge. Luckily Icewolf got his balance back and then twisted to glare at Eric.

"Sorry," Eric mumbled, feeling somewhat like a scolded child even though the other wolf hadn't said anything.

"Just...pay attention, okay?"

"I will."

Icewolf then turned to crouch so that he could peer over the edge of the roof. The wolf looked down for several moments before turning and motioning for Eric to look as well. Eric noticed immediately that they were in a very shady part of town. A part of the city where vacationers didn't go.

There were people going in and out of building on the other side of the street. It was a small building, but as they watched a surprising amount of people were going inside. Two men were standing on either side of the door and were either turning people away or letting them inside. But the building wasn't big enough to be anything special.

"Our target will be coming out of there within the hour," Icewolf said. "He goes for a drink every night at the same time and leaves at the same time every night. Routines are amazingly helpful things."

"So we sit and wait?" Eric asked.

"He won't be long," Icewolf replied. He was staring intently at the building.

Eric sighed and watched the building, though not with the same intensity as Icewolf. It was taking too long. They knelt there at the edge of the roof waiting for someone to come out of the door for what felt like forever. Finally Eric couldn't take it anymore. He was just about to say something to Icewolf when the door to the building opened and a middle aged man walked out. Beside Eric, Icewolf tensed and as soon as the man entered a parking garage safely out of sight of prying eyes the white wolf took off.

Eric chased after Icewolf and followed the hero's every movement. Within minutes they were in the parking garage. By the time Eric fully caught up with Icewolf, the white furred hero had their target by the back of his shirt. The helpless human shrieked with fear that quickly turned to indignation when he realized who had him.

"Put me down you overgrown fleabag!"

"Now, now, name calling isn't nice," Icewolf taunted even as he placed the man's feet back on the ground.

"You sneaking up on me isn't nice," the man retorted. "And grabbing me by the back of the shirt is definitely not nice!"

"Calm down, Black. You know I just like to keep you on your toes," Icewolf said with a smirk. His face then grew serious. "I'm going to get right to it, Black, because you know I've never beat around the bush."

"No shit."

Icewolf's features turned positively fierce and Eric took a subconscious step away from him at the same time Black did. "Who ordered the attack on Derek Morris?"

"Who---."

"Now is NOT the time for playing stupid, Black," Icewolf snarled. "If you don't want me to bust your cover wide open and reveal how dirty you are, you had better give me a straight answer."

Black's brown eyes were as wide open as they could possibly get. In another situation Eric would have found it amusing, but there was nothing amusing about the pissed off white wolf. Eric, being the talented CSI he was, quickly put two and two together. Icewolf had known the victim, Derek Morris. Maybe even been friends. Icewolf knew that Derek Morris had a power amulet. Hell, Icewolf had probably given it to Morris to protect. And Eric was slightly frustrated that Icewolf hadn't told him anything of the sort.

"You think you knew Derek Morris?" Black questioned with a sneer. "He was a scoundrel and a con man. He was using you, Ice."

"You lie," the wolf growled. "I knew Derek Morris better than you or any other scumbag in this city. He was loyal."

"He was planning to sell the amulet to the highest bidder."

Icewolf snarled and took a threatening step forward. "Derek wouldn't betray me like that."

"Morris was corrupt and a backstabbing thief."

"Derek was my friend!"

Icewolf was too absorbed in his argument with Black to pay attention to his surroundings, but Eric heard the whisper of movement above them. Without thinking he threw himself at Icewolf's back and knocked them both out of the way as a car dropped where they had been standing. Eric pushed himself up in time to watch Black take off. Icewolf shoved to his feet and they both spun at the sound of mocking laughter and clapping.

Eric's heart skipped a beat. Standing only a few yards away was Takedown. Eric was not prepared to take on a supervillain.

"He may be a sniveling double agent, but he's quite adept at stalling, wouldn't you say?" Takedown said motioning toward the quickly retreating Black.

"You were behind it, weren't you? You had Derek Morris killed," Icewolf snarled accusingly.

The villain's mask hid his face, but Eric could hear the smirk in his tone. "Now why would I do that?"

"You have your hands in almost anything dirty in this city. I know you were behind it," Icewolf retorted. "You're going to go down for this, Takedown."

Takedown laughed. "You and what army, fleabag? This rookie pup? I'll skin him alive and hang his fur in my living room."

Icewolf howled with fury and lunged at Takedown. It was a rookie mistake. Even Eric knew that Takedown absorbed any form of kinetic energy which the villain used to augment himself. Icewolf's punches and kicks were just making Takedown stronger, which the villain proved by backhanding the wolf across the pavement. Icewolf managed to roll to a crouch just before he collided with Eric and a deep rumbling growl made Eric take one step back.

"Temper, temper, Ice. You're going to get yourself hurt that way," Takedown taunted.

Icewolf swept his arm forward and sent a line of ice spikes flying at his nemesis. Takedown laughed as he gracefully dodged them all. He then sent a motorcycle flying at the two wolves. Icewolf shoved Eric out of the way while flinging a sheet of ice under Takedown's feet. The villain slipped and fell hard and Icewolf moved to pounce when a new figure in black swung out of nowhere and landed a kick just under the white wolf's chin. The blow snapped Icewolf's head back and left him open to a strike to the chest that knocked the wolf back. Lockdown landed smoothly beside his partner and both villains assumed a "we're mocking you" stance.

Eric was frozen. He knew he should move. He knew he should do something. Normally it would have been to pull his gun and use his "obey me" voice. He didn't have his gun and he seriously doubted either villain would listen to him.

Icewolf used his agility to dance, duck, and dodge around his two enemies, but Eric was sure it wouldn't be long before they caught the wolf. Takedown lunged with a punch, but Icewolf grabbed his arm and used the villain's momentum to throw him into Lockdown. The two went down in a pile and Icewolf took the opportunity to bound over to Eric.

"Get out of here while you can," the wolf-hero ordered.

"I'm not leaving you to fight them alone," Eric argued.

Icewolf growled. "You're only going to get in my way."

"You need back-up."

"You--."

A bumper-from a large truck by the look of it-smacked into Icewolf's face and knocked the hero to the asphalt. At the same time Eric found himself facing Lockdown. And he was getting his tail handed to him. A kick to his knee threw him off balance and in one swift move that he couldn't follow Lockdown had him on the ground with both his knees locked up. Then Lockdown knelt so that one knee was pushing into Eric's sternum and both hands were pinning his shoulders to the ground and locked them up as well. Eric was completely at Lockdown's mercy.

"Ah, look Ice, your pretty little puppy is all laid out so nice and helpless," Takedown taunted. "Maybe now is a good time for a little skinning."

"No!"

Eric watched as Icewolf threw himself at Takedown with ice covered fists ending in long spikes. Takedown laughed and avoided most of Icewolf's furious attacks, but one lucky swipe cut a neat line across his chest. His amusement was immediately replaced with fury and the villain began to throw his own attacks. Icewolf dodged a right hook and stepped in close enough to slice the spikes across Takedown's face. That left the white wolf close enough to take a backhanded punch to the nose that was followed by a stomp to the foot. Takedown threw his forearm at the white wolf's face, but that proved to be a mistake. Eric smirked to himself as Icewolf sunk his teeth into Takedown's arm and yanked the black clad man off balance. Icewolf drove his knee into Takedown's stomach and then flipped him to the ground.

Icewolf then turned and lunged across the distance at Lockdown. Lockdown backflipped away and assumed a fighting stance. Icewolf moved so that he was standing in a defensive stance directly over Eric. Eric watched as Takedown got up, cradling his injured arm, and moved so that he was standing directly across from Lockdown. It made guarding Eric a lot harder for Icewolf as he couldn't keep a good eye on either villain. Then they began to circle and Icewolf had to continually shift his stance to keep up with them.

"You bit off more than you can chew this time, fleabag. And we're going to make sure you watch your puppy die first," Takedown sneered.

Eric wanted to move, but his joints were still locked up. No amount of tensing or wiggling would get them to bend or move. There was no way for him to help Icewolf. All he could do was watch and hope the white wolf could protect him. And didn't that just hurt his pride.

Lockdown feigned a kick which drew all of Icewolf's attention. At the same time Takedown lunged from the other direction and got the white wolf in a headlock. Icewolf snarled and struggled as Lockdown moved in from the front.

Eric held his breath as he watched the scene unfold.

Takedown yelped suddenly and jerked away, shaking his arms to try and clear off the ice. Lockdown managed to get a kick into Icewolf's ribs, but the wolf-hero caught a second kick attempt. Icewolf then used one hand to grab Lockdown's hip and lifted the villain into the air before slamming him through the asphalt. Lockdown disappeared into the level below. Icewolf then spun just in time to take a fist to the muzzle. Icewolf reached out blindly and managed to grab and squeeze Takedown's injured arm. The supervillain roared with pain and jerked away, taking several steps back so that he was out of grabbing range. The two enemies faced off, both breathing hard and each waiting for the other to make a move.

"Not bad, furball," Takedown grumbled. "But it's not going to be enough."

Eric wondered what Takedown was up to as he held his arms out to his sides and then made a kind of swiping motion. At first Eric wasn't sure if the villain was using his magnetism powers or his terra-powers. He found out at the same time as Icewolf. The air was suddenly filled with small metallic things that Eric recognized as screws and hood ornaments and other things he couldn't quite make out but were clearly metal. Before Eric could wonder what the point was the things began to dive and zip and buzz through the air. They swarmed Icewolf and it quickly became apparent that they were traveling fast enough to do damage. Spots of blood began appearing all over the white wolf's fur and when the ice wielder tried to bat them away one of them shot right through his palm.

That's when Eric realized they were in real trouble. Icewolf simply couldn't move fast enough to dodge the bullet-like objects. His white fur was almost completely stained red and his movements were getting slower. What worried Eric the most was the trail of blood from Icewolf's head along with a few neck wounds.

Oh god. He was going to see Icewolf killed right in front of him. Takedown was going to kill Icewolf and there was nothing Eric could do.

Suddenly thick sheets of ice surrounded Icewolf and the things couldn't get through to him. Takedown laughed until he realized the ice was covering the floor and had started to crawl up his foot. The villain tried to get away, but his feet were already frozen to the floor. The ice continued to crawl up his body despite his struggles and eventually he was covered head to toe in ice.

The ice around Icewolf cracked and fell away and the white wolf slumped to his hands and knees. For a moment the ice wielder was completely still, but his deep gasping breathes were loud in Eric's ears. In the sudden silence Eric could hear the wolf-hero's heart beating rapidly, yet gradually slowing down as Icewolf recovered.

In the silence Eric also heard and _felt_ the air shift before Lockdown appeared out of nowhere and tackled Icewolf. The blood stained wolf struggled, but Eric could see the villain swiftly locking down all of Icewolf's joints with one hand while the other locked in an unforgiving chokehold.

"I'm done playing with you," Lockdown snarled. "You've got in our way one too many times, furball."

Icewolf couldn't even move to struggle. And Lockdown had him on the ground facing Eric. And Eric could literally see the life fading from the white wolf's eyes.

No! He wasn't going to lose another partner. It couldn't happen. He wouldn't let it happen. No more!

Fury exploded within him and out of him. There was a bright flash of light, a scream of pain, and then darkness.


	4. Revelation

When Eric came to it was the sounds he noticed first. Someone was moaning in pain. Someone else was swearing up a storm. And a third person was just breathing hard. Really hard.

Then he remembered where he was and he snapped to full awareness. He sat up quickly and looked around. He looked to his side in time to watch Takedown scoop up Lockdown and take off. Eric thought about pursuing or trying to stop them, but he knew he had no chance against them. And there was something more important to take care of instead.

Icewolf lay on his back obviously trying to catch his breath. The blood from his injuries was beginning to pool around him and there was hardly a spot of white fur left. The ice wielder turned his head to look at Eric, green eyes barely open.

"Eric, help me," the white wolf murmured. "I have to revert to my human form, but I can't do it here."

"Where then?"

"Base."

Eric didn't bother to ask questions. Instead he got up and then carefully maneuvered Icewolf onto his shoulder. He thought the other wolf would be harder to carry, but apparently augmented strength came with the wolf powers. He was able to get them onto the parking garage roof and then continue going from roof to roof following the instructions Icewolf was giving him.

They ended up at an abandoned warehouse, which Eric found a little too cliché. Once inside he found it was still just an abandoned warehouse. At that point Icewolf insisted on being put down. The injured wolf stumbled over to a counter and placed both palms on it. The counter lit up and a white light scanned the surface. What had looked like a solid floor cracked and then slid open to reveal a stairway. Icewolf slumped against the counter and Eric stepped forward to help the white wolf down the stairs. It was slow going, but once they were halfway down Icewolf stopped and put both palms to the wall and the same white light scanned the surface. Above them the floor slid back into place.

"Nice," Eric commented.

"Could be better," Icewolf muttered. "The security isn't nearly what I'd like it to be."

"Do you own the warehouse?"

"No, I just decided to build my secret underground headquarters under someone else's warehouse," Icewolf sneered. He then sighed and slumped against the wall. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

Eric didn't reply. He simply stepped over and began to help the other wolf down the stairs again. When they got to the bottom the lights automatically switched on and Eric found himself in a familiar room and he was free to walk around instead of being restrained to a table. He helped Icewolf a little way into the room before the white wolf pulled away and dropped to his hands and knees. Eric made a move to go the wolf's side, but stopped as Icewolf suddenly began to change. It was so rapid, smooth, and natural that before he knew it the wolf was replaced by a completely healed human.

A very familiar human.

"Wolfe? You've got to be kidding me," Eric exclaimed. "There's no way that it could be that obvious."

"Puns about my name aside," Wolfe grumbled as he examined his healed hand. "You will keep my identity a secret."

"You're Icewolf? That's—not at all what I expected."

The younger man's face darkened and his hazel eyes narrowed. "Yeah, so sorry to disappoint you. I'm sure I won't have to worry about you insisting to be my partner anymore."

Eric stared at the younger CSI in complete disbelief. No way. No way was the superhero he admired the same man as the replacement he hated. Okay, hated was a strong word, but still. It couldn't be possible. His mind couldn't make that connection. He couldn't come to terms that Icewolf was Ryan Wolfe the replacement for his best friend. But it was right there in front of his face. Icewolf was Ryan Wolfe and there was no getting around that.

Wolfe turned away and leaned against the wall. "Just leave, Delko. You don't want to be here and I don't want your negativity around."

"I'm not leaving. We're going to talk about this," Eric said, finally starting to recover from his shock. "What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

"We're not on duty, Delko, and you're playing in my playground now. Why, two hours ago you were practically hero-worshiping me," Wolfe snapped back. "Funny how all that changes just because you found out my real identity."

"You were being an asshole. You've been shoving cryptic shit down my throat and being a high and mighty know-it all," Eric snarled.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Wolfe snorted. "It's funny, man. You can dish it out, but apparently you can't take it."

"God, even now you're still a jackass."

Wolfe growled then and there was almost an inhuman quality to it. "You insult me at work and treat me like shit, but by god you're not going to do it in my own base. Get the hell out."

"Oh no, we've got too much to talk about," Eric retorted, crossing his arms and standing his ground.

"You've got some nerve, Delko. You haven't even earned the right to know my real identity, but I didn't have a choice," Wolfe snarled, fury written all over his face. "You of all people don't have the right to make any demands on me. I knew it was a mistake to let you run with me, but I hoped...well it doesn't matter what I hoped, does it? Because despite what you've learned you're still the same close-minded, judgmental asshole. And you have the nerve to want to be a hero."

"Now wait just a minute--."

"We're done talking, Delko. I don't know what the amulet saw in you and for the first time I think one of them made a mistake," Wolfe muttered. There was a hint of defeat in his voice. "I don't want to fight anymore and we don't have the ability to have a civilized conversation. I'm fighting too many battles to have one with you too."

"How do you do it? CSI by day and superhero by night. When do you sleep?" Eric asked as if he hadn't listened to a word the younger man said.

Wolfe sighed. "I don't have to sleep very much. You probably don't either now."

"Oh."

"Once a week on one of my days off someone from the Justice League patrols Miami for me," Wolfe explained, though he sounded like he didn't really want to tell Eric anything. "I sleep for the whole day and night and that's enough for another week."

"How is that possible?"

Wolfe snorted and shook his head. "I have the power of ice and you wonder about how I can go with so little sleep?"

"I'm trying to absorb a lot of information here, man. Give me a break."

"Oh? A break, huh? You're a goddamn hypocrite Eric Delko and I really am done having any kind of conversation with you," the younger man growled. "It's time for you to leave and if you're not prepared to go willingly, I'll be more than happy to throw you out myself."

"You're going to throw me out? I'd like to see you try," Eric retorted, crossing his arms.

"Don't tempt me, Delko. You deserve a major ass kicking, but that would be very un-hero like of me. Green Lantern would probably read me the riot act for it," Wolfe replied. "Just...leave, Delko. I don't feel like being the object of your scrutiny outside of work and you don't want to be around me anyway."

"What happened to your great speech about how I can really make a difference now? You opened my eyes to what I can do now," Eric said. "I want to defend Miami."

"Miami is my city," Wolfe growled. "What you do as a CSI is your business, but I don't need some hot shot rookie wannabe superhero getting in my way and getting yourself and someone else killed."

"You can't stop me," Eric said defiantly. "Miami is my home and I want to make it safe. I'm tired of cleaning up after the messes and wishing I could have done something to stop it. Now I can and you're not taking that away from me."

Wolfe was silent as he contemplated Eric's words. Eric could see a range of emotions flash through the younger man's eyes. They finally settled on resignation and Eric knew he had won. It wasn't like he wanted to spend time with the damn replacement, but he wanted to use his new powers for good and nothing was going to stop him.

"Fine, but if you're serious about this, really serious, then you're going to have to agree to training," Wolfe said. A smirk filtered across his face. "You can be my sidekick."

"Bullshit," Eric growled. "Call me your sidekick and you'll regret it."

Wolfe laughed and suddenly Eric didn't understand how he didn't make the connection between Icewolf and Ryan Wolfe. They were both insufferable know-it-alls.

"You realize that's a fight I'll win. You're not experienced enough to beat me."

"I don't have to be an experienced superhero to kick your ass."

"Think so? Well, maybe we should get that out of your system," Wolfe said thoughtfully. He took a fighting stance and smirked as his body easily made the transition from human to wolf. "C'mon tough guy. You've seen who I fight, experienced it first hand, but if you really think you can take me then bring it on. It's about time I got a chance to put you in your place."

Somewhere deep in his consciousness Eric knew he shouldn't fight Icewolf. For one he had no chance of beating him. Icewolf was an amazing fighter and Eric had watched videos of him fighting all sorts of bad guys. And that tied in with the second reason not to fight. Icewolf was a good guy and Eric wouldn't be doing himself a favor by fighting a superhero. Not in the eyes of other superheroes. Not for such a stupid reason.

But something else closer to the surface, something ugly and angry, told Eric to take his chance. Take the opening and show Wolfe what he thought of the younger man's arrogance.

So, Eric snorted and feigned disinterest before swinging a perfect right hook at Icewolf's face. The younger man smoothly side stepped with a calm that did nothing to ease his temper. His fury only grew as the white wolf easily ducked, dodged, and blocked everything he threw.

"Fight me, damn you!"

Icewolf shrugged, that infuriating smirk playing across his face again. "Okay."

At Eric's next swing Icewolf caught him by the wrist and jerked him off balance. Eric stumbled into a knee to the stomach and was then shoved onto his face. He got up slowly and turned to see the ice wielder waiting with that damn smug calmness. He lunged forward with the intention of tackling the younger man, but Icewolf side stepped and tripped him. Eric hit the ground hard and it knocked the breath out of him. He was much slower getting up.

"C'mon Delko, I thought you were going to kick my ass."

Icewolf was still avoiding all Eric's attempts to strike him. Eric was getting more and more furious. With a growl of frustration he threw his whole body at the other wolf. Icewolf surprised him by not moving and instead used Eric's own momentum to throw him across the room into an unforgiving wall.

"Oh Delko, that temper of yours is going to get you hurt," Icewolf said and for once it didn't sound completely mocking. "I'm not sure what your element is yet. I'm thinking electricity since you fried Lockdown. Whatever your element is though doesn't matter. Anger is dangerous to all element types."

"Do you get power from being an arrogant know-it-all?"

"Actually, I'm a blue power. I get stronger by keeping a clear head and being patient. The calmer I am the more I can focus my power and the more deadly I get," Icewolf replied, seemingly ignoring the insult. Eric had to wonder if the white wolf even saw it as an insult.

"Nice for you," Eric grumbled as he pulled himself up while leaning against the wall for support.

Icewolf crossed his arms. "Now, have you got that out of your system?" At Eric's reluctant nod he smiled. "Good, I fight my enemies enough that I don't need to be fighting you too. Now, if you're going to be working with me you're going to have to learn how to fight, control your powers, and work cohesively with me."

"I know how to fight," Eric argued.

Icewolf's smile turned into that _damn _smirk again. "Oh? I think I just proved you need practice and training. Lots."

"If you keep insulting me--."

"Delko, my enemies are going to be your enemies. You think tonight was anything new? I tangle with them at least once a week and that's on a good week. Lockdown had you completely helpless before you could even think of joining the fight. Ask yourself honestly how long are you going to survive against Takedown or Lockdown? They've just been playing around so far."

Eric didn't want to admit it, but the white wolf had a point. His hand-to-hand combat skills were extremely limited. He'd never had the need to be incredibly skilled. Most crooks he faced he faced with a gun and when it did turn physical they usually weren't trained martial artists. Against the common criminal Eric could do just fine.

But if he was going to face Lockdown and/or Takedown he needed training. Lots as Wolfe so helpfully pointed out.

"Fine, what kind of training have you got in mind?"


	5. Watchtower

Things became slightly...off in Eric's world after that night. His day was much the same. He worked his cases and did his job the same as he ever did. The only thing that changed there was that he noticed Wolfe more. Without realizing it he began to watch the younger man and not completely in a "looking for mistakes" kind of way, though he did still get some kind of enjoyment out of pointing out mistakes to the rookie CSI. Anything he could hold over Wolfe was greatly appreciated by him, because while his days were the same his nights had become completely different.

In contrast to what his nights used to be like-clubbing, partying, _sleeping_-they were suddenly completely different. Training with Icewolf was a different experience all together from anything he had ever done. There was so much more of a spiritual nature to it than he had expected and that made him worry that it would interfere with his Catholicism. Icewolf assured him that meditating and getting more in touch with his inner self had nothing to do with religion and made a point of making Eric feel like an idiot for even thinking so.

Along with the meditation came a vigorous physical training. Icewolf was a relentless, slave driver in Eric's eyes. He constantly pushed Eric just that little bit further than was necessary. He wondered if it was anything like what recruits went through in boot camp. Because he had heard that in boot camp the drill sergeants broke recruits down so that they could rebuild them stronger and better than before.

Eric didn't feel better than before. After three nights of intense workouts that included more push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups than he ever wanted to do and a cross town venture that left him feeling like he had managed to run across every roof in town Eric felt sore in places he never thought possible. And he absolutely hated the smug ass smile on Wolfe's face every morning when he limped while trying to look like he wasn't limping into work every morning. Calleigh was starting to give him curious looks while Horatio didn't seem to notice anything at all.

"You're doing this as punishment for something you think I've done to you, aren't you?" Eric demanded as he entered Icewolf's underground headquarters.

Wolfe was there in Icewolf form standing in front of the big monitor that Eric had yet to see working. The younger man shot him a look that clearly said "shut up" so Eric did. But not because of the look. He was silent because there was a big unfamiliar face staring at him from the monitor. The dark-skinned man on the monitor seemed to study Eric for a moment before turning his attention back to Icewolf.

"It's busy up here tonight are you sure you want to do it tonight?" the dark man asked.

"What kind of busy?"

"Obviously not omega level, but we've got some wounded," the man replied. "I mean, you signed up for the simulator tonight, but I just thought you should know your partner will be seeing a lot of capes."

"He'll deal," Icewolf replied. "It's not like anyone is going to bite him."

"I'm right here," Eric growled.

Icewolf shot him a furious look, which really kind of took the fight right out of Eric. He needed to learn a look like that. Criminals would crumble.

"You're still on for your scheduled time," the man on the monitor said. "Hawk and Dove are in Orlando I'll have them swing over and pick you up."

"Do they need back-up?" Icewolf asked, immediately sounding concerned.

"They're wrapping up. They'll be in Miami within the hour."

"Thank you, Mr. Terrific," Icewolf replied. "But next time would you tell me about something so close to my city?"

"Sorry Icewolf, but I knew you were busy training your partner and since it wasn't in Miami..."

"Not my partner," Icewolf grumbled.

The man, Mr. Terrific apparently, looked for a moment like he was trying to hide a smile. "I'll make sure the simulator is ready for you."

"Thanks."

With that the screen went black and Icewolf turned to Eric. "Learn some manners, Delko. Don't interrupt my conversation like that again."

"You were talking about me like I wasn't standing here."

"I thought maybe you would want your secret identity to be _secret_, Delko," Icewolf snapped in response. "Mr. Terrific isn't going to go blabbing it, but if you can't keep from making stupid mistakes like that you're never going to survive this new world you're entering."

"Stop talking to me like a goddamn child!" Eric yelled.

Icewolf puffed up impressively and Eric took an subconscious step back. "Don't like how it feels? Once again you can dish it out but you can't take it."

"Hey, I--."

"Shut up, Delko and transform."

Eric definitely didn't like being bossed around, but arguing back had proven to only lead to harder workouts. Icewolf was a slave driver after all. So instead he just did as he was told. It had become increasingly easy to make the transition to the hybrid form. That was all that was easy though. They hadn't worked at all on his elemental ability and Eric was feeling just a little bit anxious about that. Still, Wolfe always seemed to be looking for a reason to quit the training and as much as Eric hated to admit it the training was necessary. And it wasn't like he could just call another hero to train him especially since the elemental abilities seemed to require special training. No, Wolfe was the only one who could teach him.

A few minutes later they headed out, securing the hideout behind them. Icewolf seemed to converse with someone through some kind of in-ear communicator. They went rooftop to rooftop for a few blocks before Icewolf brought them to a stop. Eric watched in awe as a kind of jet-like craft appeared out of the cloudy sky and dropped straight toward them, maneuvering at the last moment to land away from them. A ramp lowered to the ground and without hesitation Icewolf walked up it into the ship. Eric hesitated a moment before he followed suit.

Inside the ship they were greeted by a young man in a blue and white costume. "Hey, Ice, good to see you."

"Dove...don't tell me Hawk's flying..." Icewolf said hesitantly.

Dove smirked. "Okay, I won't tell you Hawk's flying."

Icewolf rolled his eyes, but a friendly smile lifted the corners of his mouth. Dove smiled back and then shifted his gaze to Eric. The smile widened.

"Hey, nice to see you in control of yourself," the blue and white superhero said. "I'm Dove."

"E--um...I don't have a superhero name yet," Eric said, though he shook the hand offered to him.

Icewolf snorted. "We'll just call you Blue for now."

"Way to be obvious, snowball," a voice called from the front of the ship.

"No one asked you, featherhead," Icewolf called back.

"Play nice kids," Dove teased.

Icewolf laughed and patted Dove on the back as he passed him on the way to the front. Eric was left standing, feeling slightly left out, as the three superheroes began to banter back and forth. He could feel the camaraderie between the three. It felt a lot like what he used to have. It sent a pang of hurt deep in his chest.

He drove the feeling away and forced himself to walk to the front. He quietly took a seat behind Icewolf, feeling more out of place than he ever had. He listened as the three heroes talked about their last big adventure together with mentions of another hero called MidKnight. Eric wasn't familiar with him, though he had been trying to learn about more of the superheroes during his free time.

"So, this is the furball I knocked out, huh?" Hawk said, catching Eric's attention. "What's your element, wolf?"

"We haven't figured that out yet," Eric replied.

"Why not?" Hawk and Dove asked at the same time.

Icewolf smirked. "Because he doesn't have enough self control to be tapping into his elemental power. The last time he did it he nearly fried me along with the bad guy."

"So, fire then?" Hawk asked.

"Doubtful," Icewolf replied. "there's already a fire wolf."

Eric watched as Hawk and Dove shared a quick glance, but didn't comment. Silence followed then and Eric completely understood it. It was obvious by their reactions that Hawk and Dove didn't share Icewolf's optimism that Firewolf was still alive. It was also obvious that Icewolf didn't want to acknowledge the possibility that his partner was dead. Eric didn't blame him.

"Oh, Ice, wait until you see the duty schedules," Hawk spoke up, breaking what had been a growing uncomfortable silence. "You're going to be on monitor duty with Unknown."

"Oh man," Icewolf groaned. "That's going to be boring."

"Unknown?" Eric repeated curiously.

"Unknown recently returned from a long hiatus. He speaks less than Batman and usually just does a lot of glaring and eye-rolling," Icewolf explained. "Not a very friendly guy, but great to have as your partner."

"Hey, he could probably tell you what your element is," Dove added. "He can sense those kinds of things."

"If you can get him to talk," Hawk muttered, half distracted by flying the ship.

"Which isn't easy to do," Dove admitted. "He barely has any patience for us younger guys."

"Speaking of younger guys, MidKnight wants a rematch," Hawk said, glancing over his shoulder at Icewolf. "Says you cheated."

Icewolf snorted. "He would."

Eric listened as the three began to banter again, sounding for all the world like old friends. He glanced around the cockpit and that's when he realized they were leaving the Earth's atmosphere. The sky outside gradually grew darker before becoming a field of stars for as far as he could see. Before he could fully absorb that sight he saw the Watchtower looming huge and impressive. Eric stared in awe, watching as a ship just like the one they were in left the massive station and headed away from Earth.

"Javelin 13to Watchtower, requesting permission to dock," Hawk said, drawing Eric out of his stupor.

"This is Watchtower, you're cleared for landing in hanger six," a voice replied. Eric wasn't surprised that he didn't recognize it. There were going to be a lot of superheroes that he didn't know.

Five minutes later the Javelin made a smooth landing and Eric followed Icewolf out of the ship as Hawk and Dove stayed behind to shut down the ship's systems. The hanger was huge with three more Javelins as well as spots for two more. A group of people were moving toward the Javelin, but before he could ask any questions Icewolf grabbed him by the arm and led him through a set of doors and into a corridor. They passed two superheroes he didn't recognize. They greeted Icewolf and shot Eric a curious look but didn't stop to meet him.

"Don't mind them. They've probably got a mission," Icewolf said.

"I'm not sure I can deal with meeting a whole lot of new people anyway," Eric admitted.

Eric could hear the smirk in Icewolf's voice as the superhero asked, "Hungry?"

"No," Eric replied, but his stomach rumbled in disagreement.

"We'll stop by the mess hall first. We got here before I scheduled our training session," Icewolf said with a hint of amusement.

Eric was lost within the first few seconds of the trek through the halls that all looked alike. Twists and turns and Eric got the feeling Icewolf was trying to get him lost. In fact he was sure they passed through the same expanse of hall three times, but one more turn and through a door led them to a room. A big room with lots of tables and lots of food. The mess hall. And there were lots of superheroes.

"Hey kids," said a red clad figure that was suddenly in front of Eric. Red uniform with a lightning bolt on the chest along with bolts on the side of the head. Oh yeah, this one Eric recognized. "New guy, cool. I'm Flash."

Eric stared at the legend before him. The Flash was one of the founding seven. He had defeated the Brainiac/Lex Luthor entity by himself not to mention all the times he saved the world with the original seven. Eric didn't know a great many details about the Flash, but at least it was one superhero he recognized.

Icewolf elbowed him in the side. Eric shot him a glare, but the white wolf merely motioned his head toward the Flash...who was holding out his hand and looking amused.

"Oh, errr," Eric grabbed the hand and shook it, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, and stuttered. "I..um."

"We don't know his element yet, so we haven't come up with a codename," Icewolf explained. Eric just barely refrained from shooting him a grateful look for saving his pride. "I was hoping to catch Unknown, do you know if he's here tonight?"

"Assisting Atom in the lab," Flash replied. "Good luck there."

"Thanks," Icewolf said. The two bumped fists before the white wolf grabbed Eric by the elbow and led him further into the room.

Eric's mind was still stuck on the fact that he had just talked, well more like stuttered, to the Flash. "That was the Flash."

"Yeah, he's a nice guy," Icewolf said as if it was nothing. "We've worked together a few times. He's real good about meeting the newcomers and making them feel welcome."

Eric didn't respond. He just followed Icewolf to the food and loaded up a plate with anything that looked good. Icewolf explained that among the staff they now had a full-time chef to make sure there was always enough food. Eric just ate the food and tried not to feel too overwhelmed. Fat chance of that.

Once they were done eating, and after more heroes came over and introduced themselves, Icewolf led Eric out of the mess hall and through another long confusing trek through the same-but-apparently-not halls. They passed a few more heroes, who didn't stop their argument to introduce themselves, and then Icewolf stopped and began to press buttons on a control panel of some sort. The display flashed passcode accepted and the door clicked open. Icewolf then turned and motioned Eric to follow him inside.

Inside was a brightly lit lab with all sorts of equipment that Eric couldn't even begin to place. He wasn't nearly enough of a techno-geek to guess what half the stuff did. But it wasn't the equipment that really caught his attention. There was a man working at one of the tables who seemed completely oblivious to the fact that anyone was there. Reminded him a little of how Speed was when he was engrossed in his work.

The man was dressed in what looked like a completely white costume that seemed to blend perfectly with the sterile whiteness of the lab. It was actually one of the first really...plain costumes Eric had seen. Everyone else seemed to take some pride in having a snazzy looking costume that the public would surely come to recognize. The man working at the table had nothing extraordinary about him.

"Hey Unknown," Icewolf called out.

The white clad man turned his head just enough to nod an acknowledgment at Icewolf and reveal pure black eyes in the process. Eric was slightly taken aback, but brushed it off. He was going to be seeing weirder things than that.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor," Icewolf continued.

Unknown turned and Eric noted his eyes were narrowed. Was that anger or speculation? How were they supposed to know if the guy didn't say anything?

"Okay, well, my trainee's elemental ability has been activated, but he doesn't have enough control to actually tap into it. I was wondering if you could possibly tell me what element he has?"

Unknown studied Icewolf for a moment more before he turned to Eric. The white clad man moved to stand directly in front of him and then placed a hand on his shoulder. Eric didn't expect anything to happen to him, he expected it to be on Unknown's side of things. But all of a sudden Eric didn't feel like he was in a lab at all. He felt...well he wasn't sure what he felt at first. He felt wind, yes definitely wind. And rain and then the unmistakable flash of lightning followed by a deafening rumble of thunder. Then ice and a cold wind that seemed to blow right through him. He trembled and tried to curl in on himself. Then just like that he was back in the lab and Unknown was staring at him with those deep fathomless black eyes.

"I'm fine," he told the man.

Unknown nodded and backed off. The man then went back to his work as if nothing had happened. Eric turned to Icewolf, who was watching him expectantly, and frowned.

"I can't be certain, but...I think I have the powers of a storm."

"A storm?"

"Lightning, wind, water...," Eric listed, trailing off in thought.

Icewolf was staring at him with horror written all over his face. "You can't—I--all the elements of a storm?"

"Yeah," Eric replied. "Guess I'll be more powerful than you."

"That's completely beside the point," Icewolf snarled. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I have no idea how I'm going to train you with so many elements."

Eric started to reply when quite suddenly someone else was with them. He saw something small move out of the corner of his vision and barely had time to notice it was growing before there was a full size man standing beside Unknown. The costume of the newcomer was red on the legs, midsection, and hands and then blue from the upper chest to the head. Much like many of the other superheroes the blue cowl had white out lenses to hide the eyes.

"The problem was the nanofiber connections," the newcomer said, addressing Unknown as if no one else was there. Then he seemed to notice there were others in the lab. "Oh, Icewolf, hello."

"Hello, Atom," Icewolf replied. "This is...Stormwolf."

"Nice to meet you," Atom said, holding out his hand. Eric wasn't quite as awe struck by Atom as he had been by Flash, but he knew that this hero had once saved the world too. "I didn't know you had another partner."

"Not my partner," Icewolf replied quickly. "He's my trainee."

Atom laughed. "Right, trainee."

At the same time Unknown turned around and smacked Icewolf on the back of the head. Icewolf gasped and jumped back from the mysterious hero. There was no mouth to be seen, but if eyes could smirk then Unknown's definitely were.

"Shut up," Icewolf muttered, giving them both a playful glare. "We've got training to get to."


	6. Wildside

Eric watched in shocked horror as Icewolf hit the road hard and didn't get back up. The white wolf lay motionless, only the slight movement of his chest showing he was still alive. Eric quickly shifted his gaze to the villain that stood laughing across the street. Icewolf had only briefly told Eric about Wildside so there wasn't much for him to go on. He knew Wildside was a human that could turn into any animal he touched by absorbing the DNA. He also knew that Wildside could mix and match animals to create his own strange hybrids. Like the rhino with a scorpion tail and huge crab pincers that he faced.

"Come get some, pup. If you think you're wolf enough," Wildside taunted.

Eric shot one more quick glance at his fallen comrade then focused his full attention on the villain. Wildside snapped his pincers in Eric's direction. Eric replied by flipping the beast off. Wildside let out a deep bellow and charged, which is exactly what Eric was going for. Eric sidestepped and wrapped his hands around the massive rhino horn and fell onto his back. His weight combined with the villain's momentum flipped the hybrid beast into the air. However, Wildside managed to get his pincers around Eric and fling him in the opposite direction.

Eric slammed into the side of a car with enough force to dent the metal. He got up as quickly as he could and reacted instinctively to the sight of something flying at his face. He dove to the side and looked back to see the scorpion stinger dig into the pavement. He quickly twisted and grabbed the tail and used it to swing Wildside through the wall of a building.

Eric then turned to the bystanders who had stopped to watch and opened his mouth to warn them away, but a roar from inside the building cut him off. A orange and black blur pounced out of the hole in the wall and slammed Eric to the ground. Eric managed to get one foot in Wildside's stomach and kicked him off, but not before the scorpion stinger plunged into his thigh. That tore a howl of pain from deep inside, but didn't stop Eric from getting to his feet as quickly as possible. He faced off with Wildside once more.

Wildside had changed forms again. He still had the scorpion tail, but the rest of his body was that of a tiger. The tiger growled deeply and without thinking Eric answered, tensing his muscle in preparation. Wildside pounced with claws outstretched and teeth bared. Eric made a quick move to the side, but his injured leg failed him and he collapsed on his side. Wildside landed as smoothly as any real tiger and pounced again. Eric managed to catch both front paws, but the back claws dug into his thighs and held tight.

"I'm gonna tear you apart, fleabag," Wildside taunted.

Eric panicked and in his panic he did the only thing he could think of doing. He howled. He howled like he never had before, with all his emotion and power behind it. The resulting sonic shock wave sent Wildside flying through the air. The villain slammed through another wall and the front of the building collapsed as the supporting beams shattered. Eric stared in horror. Oh he was going to be in big trouble for that.

Getting to his feet was a little more difficult with both his legs badly wounded. His hybrid wolf form had accelerated healing, but not that quickly. Serious wounds like his would require changing back to his human form, but that wasn't an option with Wildside still a threat. Instead he slowly limped forward to see if Wildside was actually down for the count.

Just as he stepped through the hole Wildside pounced. The villain had taken on the form of a kangaroo and with one powerful kick sent Eric sailing back through the air. Eric hit the road and tumbled several times before coming to a stop beside Icewolf's unconscious body. He managed to get to his knees and look up, watching as Wildside shifted form to that of a huge eagle. The villain flapped into the air and over to Eric. Eric had no chance against the talons that sank into his shoulders and lifted him up.

"Icewolf should have trained his sidekick a little better," Wildside sneered as he made a quick ascent into the dark night sky.

"Not his sidekick," Eric shot back.

Wildside laughed, his voice floating through the air. "Oh? And you suppose you're his new partner? Please, you're no hero."

They were high up in the sky by then and Eric knew things were about to go from bad to worse.

"At any rate, your death will be a big blow to Icewolf. My only regret is that he's not conscious to see this."

And then Wildside released him.

Eric had never been so scared in his life. He was too scared to even scream. The air seemed to rush out of his lungs as he plummeted straight for the ground. There was nothing he could do to save himself.

Inches from the ground he stopped. Everything stopped.

"Computer, end simulation."

Eric's wounds were suddenly gone and his feet were on solid ground. He took a moment to get his breath back. Even though he knew it was only a simulation, falling through the sky was still terrifying.

"Twelve people."

Eric spun to face Icewolf. "What?"

"You killed twelve people with your stupid stunt," Icewolf said. "All you had to do was subdue him. Not have smackdown with him."

"He wasn't exactly going quietly, Wolf," Eric retorted. "What the hell else was I supposed to do? Let him kill me?"

"You threw him through a building," Icewolf growled. "We try to avoid that kind of thing at all costs. Especially an apartment building."

"I didn't really have time to think things through," Eric said in his defense. "All I could do was react."

"You should have led him away from the populated area," Icewolf shot back. "There was no way to avoid civilian casualties there."

Eric's temper flared and he stepped toward Icewolf, whole body tense. "You set that up. You set it up so I would fail."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because you just love to see me fail, don't you?"

"No, that's your place," Icewolf retorted furiously. "But at least I'm not shoving it in your damn face."

"Because you know you set me up to fail!"

"I don't need to set you up for that!"

"You're just jealous because you're not half the CSI I am!"

"How would you know? You don't give me the time of day!"

"Because you're nothing but a wannabe CSI who took advantage of my best friends death to get on the team! You'll never be anything more than a replacement!"

The air in the room suddenly dropped so low Eric could see his own breath. He shivered subconsciously and watched the ice wielder before him warily.

"You act like you're the only one who has ever lost anyone," Icewolf growled, low and dangerous. "Well, guess what? The only reason you're in the position to be my _sidekick_ is because I lost _two_ of my best friends! And you'll never be anything more than a sidekick because you don't have what it takes!"

"I'm not a sidekick!"

"That's right, you're not a sidekick. You're a joke!"

Fury flared, gripping Eric hard and without thinking he pounced. Not anticipating the attack, Icewolf didn't get a hand up to block the punch to his jaw. Eric watched as Icewolf stumbled and followed with a kick to the knee. That Icewolf caught. The white wolf let out a deep, thrumming growl and held Eric's leg as he stepped inward and landed a devastating punch to the jaw. Eric tipped backwards but was flung roughly to the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of him.

Icewolf loomed over him, green eyes blazing. "And for the record, if you EVER bring up our real work again where someone else could overhear it I'll make sure you really regret it."

Oh no, Eric was NOT letting Icewolf get the last word in. As Icewolf turned to leave the simulation room Eric lunged to his feet and then at the white wolf's back. Icewolf turned and Eric caught the ice wielder with an uppercut and followed it with a stiff kick to the ribs. The kick knocked Icewolf onto his back and Eric fell on him with a flurry of punches to the white wolf's face and chest. Icewolf seemed too stunned to hit back. The wolf just threw his arms up and tried to block Eric's punches to the face.

Suddenly an arm locked around his neck and Eric was jerked back with amazing force. He was hauled up off the ground and then slammed chest first to the floor with a heavy weight on his back. Before he could do anything he found himself in a full nelson with both arms restricted and two hands cranking his head into the floor.

"I should snap your damn neck," Hawk snarled furiously.

"Take it easy, Hawk," Dove said from somewhere nearby.

Eric listened to the sound of Icewolf being helped up and winced as Hawk cranked on his neck. He could smell anger and frustration on Icewolf's scent. He heard the white wolf open his mouth, there was a distinct sound of lips pulling back from teeth anytime Icewolf talked, but then there was a click of teeth. Apparently, Icewolf decided against speaking. Instead the ice wielder let out a growl and stormed away. Hawk cranked on Eric's neck even harder.

"What happened?" Dove demanded.

"He provoked me," Eric said.

"You accused him of setting up the simulation so that you would fail," Hawk shot back. "We were watching in the control room."

"You have to understand, Stormwolf, that failure for us means either our death or the death of innocent people," Dove explained, sounding calmer than before. "He would never set you up for that."

"It's insulting to him that you would even suggest it," Hawk added. He didn't sound any calmer. "And if you ever attack him like that again I'll break every bone in your body and stick you in an airlock somewhere."

Eric believed it. Hawk then reluctantly let go of him, at the encouragement of Dove, and Eric carefully got up. His ribs hurt from Hawk's body slam. The simulation room floor wasn't padded in the slightest.

"Why don't you go back to the commissary? We'll find you when it's time for you to leave," Dove suggested.

"And you better be ready to apologize."

With that Hawk and Dove left the room. Eric assumed they were going after Icewolf. That left him alone. To find the commissary. By himself. He was so going to get lost.

And not ten minutes later he was undeniably lost. He knew that at one point they took a lift and that there were many twists and turns. He stopped and turned in place a few times trying to see anything familiar. Nothing.

"You look lost, kid."

Eric spun at the voice. And couldn't keep his eyes from widening in surprise. Then couldn't keep the look of awe from his face. A dark skinned man wearing a mostly black costume with green shoulders and boots stood there. The unmistakable green emblem on a field of white. He couldn't believe who it was. Couldn't believe that he was meeting another of the original seven so soon.

It was Green Lantern.

Eric couldn't believe his luck.

"Where are you trying to get to?" Green Lantern asked.

"The commissary," Eric said, managing to keep the awe out of his voice. He wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to being around the big name guys.

Green Lantern laughed. "You're way, way off course."

"Yeah, well this whole place kinda looks the same. There's nothing distinguishing about any of these halls and no helpful maps," Eric retorted.

"Tell me about it," the hero grumbled. "The first time I came up here I got turned around and they had to send Flash to find me. Talk about embarrassing."

Eric didn't know what the appropriate response to that was and he was too proud to actually ask Green Lantern to give him directions. Fortunately for him the dark skinned hero motioned for him to follow and then turned and started down the hall.

"So, you're Icewolf's new partner," the other man broke the silence that had been growing.

"I'm Stormwolf sir, but I believe he likes to refer to me as his trainee."

Green Lantern snorted, "Trainee, riiiiight."

Eric wanted to ask why everyone seemed to have the same response to Icewolf claiming him as a trainee and not partner. He didn't ask though. He just followed Green Lantern to a lift and as soon as the doors slid open Icewolf stepped out.

"Hey GL," Icewolf greeted.

"Icewolf," Green Lantern returned calmly. "You should keep a better eye on you _trainee_. I found him wandering aimlessly."

Icewolf shot Eric an absolutely frigid look. "Yeah, well, he won't be here often enough to need to memorize the layout." He then shifted his attention fully to Green Lantern. "No one will tell me what's happened tonight. I know there are injuries, but I can't get any details."

"Just your average possessed metahuman," Green Lantern said dryly. "No one was seriously hurt, but it was quite a fight. Flash nearly took on the whole League."

"Flash was possessed?"

"Yeah, haven't figured out by what exactly, but when Doctor Light hit him with a blast of light whatever it was left him," Green Lantern explained. "Like I said, some broken bones and bruised pride, but nothing serious."

"Now why couldn't anyone just tell me that?" Icewolf growled in annoyance.

Green Lantern shot the white wolf a look. "Maybe the attitude you've been throwing around for the past month has something to do with it."

Icewolf grumbled, but made no intelligible reply. Eric looked curiously at the white wolf, but he was ignored with a feeling of coldness that almost made him shiver. Something felt different. Usually after one of their arguments Icewolf was snappy and overly insulting, but there was none of that.

Maybe he had let his pride get in the way just a little too much. Maybe he took it too far.


	7. Shock

Things between Eric and Ryan were downright frigid in the days

Things between Eric and Wolfe were downright frigid in the days that followed their excursion to the Watchtower. Wolfe wouldn't look at him unless necessary let alone speak to him. There were no angry retorts, no arrogant remarks. There was nothing at all.

And that bothered Eric for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. He had grown so accustomed to Wolfe arguing with him about practically everything that the silence was…disturbing to say the least. Trying to get a rise out of the younger man seemed impossible and Eric wasn't the only one to notice. Wolfe was perfectly normal with everybody else, but his icy attitude toward Eric had drawn the attention of more than one coworker. However, when Calleigh asked Eric feigned ignorance. It was easier than admitting that he took his rivalry with Wolfe too far. Of course she saw right through that, but respectfully didn't push it. Eric was thankful for that much at least.

Surprisingly, Eric's training still continued. He almost wished it didn't. Icewolf never had anything at all nice to say. Nothing Eric did was good enough even when he thought he was doing good. Icewolf pushed him and pushed him harder and harder past what he believed to be his breaking point. There wasn't a night that he didn't go home sore or a morning that he didn't wake up feeling like a herd of elephants had run him over. And the smug look that Wolfe got on his face when Eric limped into work certainly didn't help the animosity between them.

Then things got worse. Wolfe leaked information to that reporter Erica and it was all over the news. It didn't matter that she had ended up helping them in the end. Eric was furious that Wolfe would betray the team like he had.

"I'm telling you, Delko, that I didn't give her permission to tape me and I certainly wasn't happy about it!"

Okay, so maybe he could get a rise out of the younger man.

"You seemed to enjoy being on TV last time," Eric shot back.

Wolfe opened his mouth like he would respond, then snapped it shut with an audible click. They glared at each other and Eric could read a promise of retribution clear in Wolfe's eyes. He knew that training was going to be even tougher that night, but getting a rise out of the younger man made it worth it. At least he thought so at the time.

Four hours later when Icewolf was giving him a thorough workout. Icewolf called it a workout. Eric felt like it was a beating plain and simple. The ice-wielder wasn't throwing out suggestions or criticisms. He was simply taking Eric apart.

Eric grunted as he was swung into the practice mat for what felt like the tenth time. He struggled, knowing what was coming, but Icewolf kept a fierce hold on his arm. The arm was then twisted behind his back and a knee dropped onto the back of his neck. Eric grunted again, pain lancing into his head from his neck, but Icewolf held strong.

"Are you sure you want to be a crime fighter, Delko? Because you don't appear to be learning anything from me at all. Are you even paying attention to anything I've told you or does it go in one ear and out the other? Or do you ignore me because as usual you think you know better than me?"

"If you told me anything worthy of remembering..." Eric shot back.

Icewolf snarled and twisted his arm hard. An uncontrolled gasp left Eric as the strain on his shoulder started to feel like it would be too much. "You arrogant bastard. I think I'm wasting my time with you. If you can't even remember a few simple defensives moves then you certainly won't stand a chance out there. Have you even paid attention the last few times I've fought Takedown or Lockdown for that matter? Defense is important and you just can't seem to grasp that."

"Defense is only important if you aren't capable of offense," Eric retorted. He wasn't sure why he said it considering it probably wasn't true, but he felt the automatic urge to disagree with everything Icewolf said.

Icewolf released Eric's arm and stood up. The white wolf crossed his arms and glared. Even though Eric knew Icewolf was human inside, the ice-wielder seemed to take on wolf-like instincts. The ears were fully erects, lips curled back, and fur bristling. If he was on four legs Eric would have thought he was a real wolf.

"You believe defense isn't important? You think offense is a better weapon to use?" Icewolf demanded.

Eric struggled to his feet and tried to appear more defiant than he felt. He had a feeling a terrible and painful lesson was about to be taught.

"If you think so little of defense then why don't we test that theory of yours," Icewolf said, lips pulling into a nasty sneer. "Attack me."

"No."

"Are you scared, Delko? Are you incapable of offense then when you've spoken so highly of it?" Icewolf taunted. "Attack me, unless you concede that defense is important."

The fight was stupid and his argument full of holes, but Eric wasn't about to back down from the white wolf's challenge. With a snarl he threw a powerful right hook at Icewolf's face, twisting his whole upper body in the way Icewolf had shown him. The punch would have been powerful and painful if it had connected.

Icewolf simply leaned back to avoid the hit and threw a kick at Eric's right hip. The blow was powerful and caused Eric to lose his center of balance. Eric managed to recover and stepped back from his opponent, rubbing his sore hip.

"Is that all you've got, Stormy?" Icewolf taunted.

Eric hated that name. He knew Icewolf only called him that because it pissed him off. And that just pissed him off worse.

With a snarl he charged Icewolf. What followed was a series of moves that Eric couldn't even keep track of and it landed him face down on the mats with Icewolf's knee in his neck. His face was being shoved into the mat which hurt all the worse with the elongated wolf snout. The pain just added to his fury until he just wanted to kill something. Not just kill. _Maim. __**Destroy.**_

The wind roared up out of nowhere and struck Icewolf hard enough to fling the ice-wielder off Eric. With an agility he had begun to pick up from all the training, Eric flipped to his feet and faced his teacher. Icewolf's fur was bristling and there was a look of foreboding doom in his eyes.

"No powers," Icewolf snarled. "Stop that right now!"

"Make me!" Eric challenged without thinking.

At that moment Eric wasn't thinking. He was reacting. In his fury he was relenting his logical human mind to the instinctual wolf mind. And the wolf perceived a threat.

Eric took a step to charge the white wolf and at the same time Icewolf threw a sheet of ice at Eric's feet. Eric slipped and busted his chin on the ground hard.

"You're not ready to use your powers," Icewolf said. "At this rate you'll never be ready."

That was IT! Always with the insulting and the jabs and Eric had more than enough of it. With a roar of pure primal rage he pushed to his knees and barely registered the build up of power in his right arm before he thrust it in Icewolf's direction. Electricity leaped across the distance and struck the white wolf with terrifying force. Icewolf was knocked off his feet and hit the ground hard on his back. His whole body twitched a few times before the ice-wielder fell still. Very still.

It was that stillness that snapped Eric out of the wolf mind and back into his own. Panic set in. Everything happened after that was a blur. He didn't remember going to Icewolf's side. He didn't remember getting Icewolf's Justice League communicator from the white wolf's ear. He definitely didn't remember calling for help or speaking to anyone at all. The next thing he did become aware of was the angry looks and Green Lantern's furious questions.

"What the hell happened?"

Eric shook his head as the world seemed to come back into focus. He found himself in what looked suspiciously like a holding cell. Green Lantern stood at the opening of the cell with muscular arms crossed over his chest and a furious gleam in his eyes.

"Where am I?" Eric demanded.

A green glow surrounded the man who was a co-founder of the Justice League. "Answer my question first. What happened?"

"I couldn't control my powers and I accidentally zapped Icewolf," Eric replied. _More like I got pissed off and tried to electrocute him. Oh my god. I tried to kill him._

"Calm down, GL," a vaguely familiar voice said from outside the cell. "And let the kid out already. It's not like he did it on purpose."

Green Lantern backed out of the door and Eric was mildly relieved to see the Flash waiting in the other room. People could say what they wanted about the speedster, but the Flash was vastly friendlier than Green Lantern. Flash offered him a smile as Eric stepped out of the cell.

"Is Icewolf okay?" Eric asked. He winced at the guilt that came through in his voice.

"It was close," Flash said, "but he'll be up and about in a few hours. Lucky you wolves have such quick healing abilities."

Flash led the way out of the holding cell area and Eric was painfully aware of Green Lantern's suspicious glare at his back. What would Green Lantern do if he knew Eric had purposefully attacked Icewolf? Eric banished the thought quickly. It wasn't something that would have a happy ending.

Eric sniffed the air curiously as he shifted his gaze around their surroundings. It wasn't the same as the last time he had been on the Watchtower. Then it had been all metal walls and recycled air, but it was different. The walls were more concrete with metal, but the biggest difference was definitely fresh air. He could smell the familiar scents of a city somewhere nearby. They were definitely on Earth.

"Where are we?"

"The Metrotower," Flash replied. "It's the base we established in Metropolis after the whole Cadmus fiasco."

"What exactly was the Cadmus fiasco?"

"Okay, well, long story short. Lex Luthor manipulated some government officials into thinking we were the bad guys to be feared by using scenes from alternate dimensions where the Justice League goes rogue after Lex kills me and so Cadmus began to make plans to take us down which only escalated when Luthor used a remote control device to fire the Watchtower's weapon at a Cadmus facility which set off a chain reaction and ended up with me saving the world by defeating the Luthor/Brainiac thing."

Eric blinked.

And blinked.

"Huh?"

"Flash your long story short needs some work," Green Lantern said dryly.

"What? That was short." Flash replied defensively.

Eric wasn't looking, but he could practically feel Green Lantern rolling his eyes. Then Eric caught a scent that was becoming very familiar to him. Growing up in Miami it was something he had never smelled before until he went on a ski trip with Speed. It was the smell of snow and ice mixed with an undertone of frustration and a hint of...sadness? The analysis of the scent took less than a millisecond in his wolf mind and so he was ready for Icewolf to come around the corner.

"You with me, now," the white wolf growled, green eyes fixed on Eric.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Green Lantern scolded.

Icewolf snorted. "A little electricity isn't enough to keep this wolf down."

"Still-."

"I'll go right back to the medbay as soon as I take care of this," Icewolf said. The whole time his fierce green eyes never moved from Eric's eyes.

Eric allowed Icewolf to pull him away from Flash and Green Lantern and back down the hall. Eric was mildly confused. He couldn't smell anger in his teacher's scent, yet that's exactly the attitude Icewolf was portraying. The wolf that resided in the back of his consciousness couldn't make sense of the contradiction.

That confusion gave way to wariness as Icewolf shoved Eric into a dark room. Then the lights flicked on and Eric looked around in curiosity. It was decently large room that was sparsely decorated. There was a couch with a viewscreen in what appeared to be a living room type area. At the far end of the room was moderate size bed with a Japanese type divider that was pushed most of the way open. It was the sight of the bed that made Eric realize he was in Icewolf's quarters.

"Sit down."

At that Eric's temper flared and he spun to face the white wolf. "Stop ordering me around!"

Icewolf gave a snarl and shoved Eric roughly onto the couch. "Shut up and listen to me."

Eric opened his mouth to argue, but the fierce look Icewolf shot him was enough to silence him. Then to his complete and utter surprise Icewolf's form began to shift and change. Fur was replaced by skin and clothes while the mass of muscle decreased along with the total body size. Within seconds Icewolf was replaced by Ryan Wolfe. It was a surprising move because with Eric still in full wolf mode it made Wolfe vulnerable.

For a moment Eric contemplated the idea of staying in his wolf form before he dismissed it. It was a step forward for Wolfe to willingly become human in his presence. It didn't matter that Wolfe had been in human form around him before. It was the fact that Wolfe was going from Icewolf to human willingly that made the difference.

So Eric made the shift back to human as well. It was a process that no longer felt strange and was in fact like second nature to him. Within seconds he was human again.

Eric watched as the tension in Wolfe's body drained away and the younger man plopped into the seat on the other side of the couch. With one cushion between them it gave them both enough distance to feel comfortable, but still close enough for conversation. Wolfe sighed deeply and rubbed both hands over his face vigorously before he leaned back and was silent. Eric was silent as well, observing the nervousness in his coworker that he had never seen before.

Finally after a silence that Eric assumed Wolfe used to collect himself the younger man began to speak, "A few years after Firewolf and I found our amulets we were present when Terrawolf found his amulet. I'll admit we were both excited about finding another Wolf. We helped him acquire the clear mind to call the wolf, but we had no idea what his ability was. We were still learning about the whole thing ourselves. We encouraged him to tap into his ability."

"What happened?" Eric asked.

"As you can guess by his name his ability was to control and manipulate earth. Well, he had no control at first. He caused a chasm to open and unfortunately some of it opened right under the home of a family. A husband, wife, and three little girls disappeared into that chasm and never came back."

Eric was surprised to say the least. "Terrawolf killed them?"

"Terrawolf using his powers without learning control killed them," Wolfe replied. "We learned a valuable lesson that day and one I won't soon forget. So while you think I'm being unfair consider that you've already shocked an enemy and nearly killed me. You have some very dangerous and very powerful abilities and it is more important than it has been with any of the rest of us that you learn control. Eric, you potentially have five abilities. Five. The rest of us had a chore just learning and controlling one ability."

Whatever Wolfe said was forgotten as soon as he actually said Eric's name. It was the first time Wolfe had ever called him anything other than Delko when they weren't playing superhero. It was a bit of a shock, but he came back to reality when Wolfe waved a hand in front of his face.

"Back off," Eric grumbled, but there was no real heat in his voice.

Wolfe leaned back with a hint of a smirk on his face. "Did that all sink into your head or are you just shocked at the fact that I know your name?"

"It sunk in," Eric retorted. "I understand but that doesn't mean I have to like it."


End file.
